A Swingin’ Sinatra Valentine’s Party at Fox Cabaret

DH Vancouver StaffFeb 04, 2016 10:00 am

December 12, 2015 marked what would have been Frank Sinatra’s 100th birthday. Salutes to the Chairman of the Board have been pouring in all across North America ever since — CBS aired the two-hour all-star special Sinatra 100 – An All-Star Grammy Concert featuring Tony Bennett, John Legend, and Celine Dion in December; Vanity Fair put his handsome face on its cover; Los Angeles’ Grammy Museum is hosting a multimedia Sinatra exhibition until February 15.

With the help of the Fox Cabaret and Kent Street Apparel, Vancouver is paying its own respects to Ol’ Blue Eyes, too, and just in time for Valentine’s Day. A Swingin’ Sinatra Valentine’s Party will be held at the popular Main Street venue on February 13 and, as one might hope for a night dedicated to the classy crooner, the evening will be served with a healthy dose of swank.

Kent Street Apparel shopkeeper, Glyn Lewis, attended the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra’s Sinatra Centennial in 2015. “They brought in this singer from New York, Tony DeSare, and he just serenaded the audience, with the entire VSO behind him, with Sinatra songs,” Lewis remembers. “He took us through the writing and the different stages in Frank’s life and it was just one of the classiest nights I’ve had in Vancouver. I just knew that this was something that was really awesome and I thought that we could build on it in some way.” Totally inspired, he pitched an idea for a Sinatra tribute to the Fox a few months later. They loved it.

Along with candlelit tables and cocktail specials, A Swingin’ Sinatra Valentine’s Party will feature renditions of Sinatra classics by local artists including Jarrod O’Dell (the Ballantynes), Jordan Irwin (River of Kings), and Chelsea Hartwick. Vancouver-based dance company the Lovers Cabaret will also deliver a special performance. And while there’s no dress code, Lewis divulges that he’ll be wearing a three-piece suit and hopes that guests will feed off the elegant ambiance of the night, as well.

“I’m happy that we’re creating this kind of art in the city…” he enthuses, adding that the Fox is perfect venue for this kind of event. “They create art and they create amazing community and they’re such a great space for creative ideas and life, energy to come though. Every time I’m at the Fox, even if it’s just a Saturday night, it’s people who really want to have an amazing night and they’ll just completely be open with their soul energy. You feel it’s real and you feel it’s authentic and you feel like people are there to just completely feel the music and to completely love the moment. There’s something so unique about that.”